


Kids Like Us

by QueenAkito



Category: Splatoon
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-12
Updated: 2018-03-12
Packaged: 2019-03-30 11:56:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,485
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13951059
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueenAkito/pseuds/QueenAkito
Summary: Callie and Marie meet Marina properly for the first time, and have a talk about what to do about this potential new threat.





	Kids Like Us

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted to my deviantART on 1/31/18, with an illustration of the scene here: https://strayhowl.deviantart.com/art/Kids-Like-Us-STORY-728547279

It started off as a typical day in the studio. 

Over a year had passed since Callie, Marie, and Agent 3 successfully defended the city from the Octarians and got the Zapfish back. The enemy leader, Octavio, had remained trapped in their custody since that day. 

Each of the three Agents (and Cap'n Cuttlefish) took turns feeding and watching him every day as he sat in his glass prison, to ensure that he didn't get up to no good once again, but he'd remained fairly docile so far. He rarely spoke unless spoken to, and seemed to accept the terms of his punishment.

By all accounts, peace had returned.

Just over a month had passed since the final Splatfest, and not much had changed in that time. Callie and Marie were still hosting Inkopolis News every morning and evening, and putting on live concerts most weekends, in-between completing online schoolwork and recording short commercials together to promote their brand.

The two Inklings were sat at their typical table, chatting about various random things as they usually did during their breaks every day. Callie was excitedly talking about a new store that had opened in Arowana Mall, while Marie was leaning back in her chair and nodding along quietly, even though she looked a bit bored, or perhaps tired. 

“We should totally go and check it out this weekend!” Callie was saying, a massive grin on her face as she leaned forward and put her hands on the table dramatically.

“Don't we have a show to do this weekend?” Marie drawled, inwardly amused even if she didn't show it. They went through this same routine whenever a new store opened in the mall.

“Yeah, but that's not 'till later in the evening! Marie, you're not just planning on sleeping the day away again, are you?!” Callie asked, a slight playful whine in her voice on the last bit.

“Well duh, what other day can I sleep past nine? I need to take advantage of it!” Marie told her matter-of-factly, smirking a bit at the unimpressed look she got from her cousin. 

The silver-haired Inkling was extremely tempted to make a comment about the Early Birds vs Night Owls Splatfest results again to prove her point, but she held back. That was one Splatfest that always made Callie bitter, and while it was fun winding her up, Marie didn't want to actually ruin her cousin's good mood.

“Come oooooon, you can sleep in on Sunday!” Callie pointed out. “And besides, after we see the new store we can get chips for lunch! It's been ages since we've had the time to go get chips!”

“Pfft, do you ever not think of food?” Marie teased her, having fun bantering with the other Inkling. When Callie gave a dramatic sigh and pouted, Marie shook her head a bit and gave in. “Fine, fine. We can go see the new store, and then get chips before we've gotta show up for concert prep. You're buying, though.”

“YES!” Callie grinned, fist-pumping the air in victory. It was amazing how fast she could spring back to life after getting what she wanted. Not that Marie was ever going to truly deny her in the first place, of course; it was simply in her nature to pretend to be difficult about things for awhile before giving in.

“Jeeze, tone it down a bit, yo,” a new voice said from nearby. “Tryin' to wake the dead, or something?”

Callie and Marie glanced over, seeing an extremely small Inkling stood nearby with her arms crossed. She had pure white hair that faded to bright pink on the ends of her tentacles, and pale yellow eyes.

“Hey Pearl,” Callie grinned. “Done recording for a bit?”

“Nah, I'm on a tour! Got assigned to show a new intern the ropes!” Pearl told them, looking and sounding quite proud and smug. “Jelly?”

“Hardly.” Marie drawled. Why on earth would she be jealous about showing a new person around the studio and keeping them in line? That just sounded exhausting.

“Oooh someone new's here?!” Callie squealed, bouncing a bit. “Where are they?! Let us meet them!”

“She's... uh...” Pearl blinked, apparently realizing that she was alone. 

“Oh dear, you lost her already?” Marie teased, grinning. “Nice one, Pearl. Truly the work of a great mentor.”

“Shut your face!” Pearl snapped, blushing a bit and looking flustered. “Didn't anyone tell you to respect your elders?! She's probably just gotten distracted by something!”

With that, the small Inkling darted out of the room. Callie and Marie glanced at each-other, and then both burst out laughing. Pearl was certainly a special one at times. It was hard to believe that she was older than both of them, having just turned twenty. She certainly didn't look or act like it, as much as pointing out this fact annoyed the tiny Inkling.

It was about ten minutes later that Pearl returned. She seemed to be lecturing someone about not running off, even if there was something interesting going on. Callie and Marie glanced over at her again, and froze at what they saw.

Walking behind Pearl was a tall girl with long black hair that faded to teal on the ends of her tentacles. She had extremely dark skin, and wore a plain green tee-shirt and blue jeans. She seemed nervous; her green eyes darting around the studio rapidly, as if she was anticipating something to happen at any moment. 

What caught their attention, though, was the fact that this girl was not an Inkling, or Jellyfish, or any other common species that called the city of Inkopolis home. She was an Octoling. And not just any common Octoling, either. Marie recognized her as being one of the highest-ranking elite Octarian soldiers. 

As far as the Agents understood, the Octarian Army's ranks were reflected by hair and ink colour. Low ranking Octolings had red hair and reddish-purple ink, elite soldiers had black hair and reddish-purple ink, and high-ranking elite soldiers had a unique hair and ink colour that stood out from the standard that the rest of them used. 

The teal Octoling with darker skin than the other elites... this was someone the two of them had faced in battle before. The sight of her standing here before them now that peace had returned was nothing short of unnerving. 

Marie felt her eye twitch slightly into a glare, and she had to fight the nearly overwhelming instinct to bear her fangs at the Octoling. Why was this soldier here? Was she sent to spy? Gather information? Try to locate Octavio? And more importantly; was she alone, or had others sneaked in and were now lurking around the city too? 

Before Marie could say or do anything rash, however, Callie jumped to her feet with an excited grin. 

“Oh wow, it's awesome to meet you!” the black-haired Inkling exclaimed, wasting no time in taking the Octoling's hand and shaking it. “I'm Callie! What's your name?”

“Um...” the Octoling blinked, looking confused and taken aback by her enthusiasm. “N-Name...? It's Marina. It's... nice to meet you?” she said slowly, speaking in heavily accented, yet reasonably fluent Inklish. It was surprising to hear an Octoling speaking in a language besides Octonese.

Marie could only stare at her cousin in dumbfounded disbelief, remaining silent. This whole bizarre scenario had to be a dream. There was no way that this was really happening.

Pearl smirked a bit, glancing up at Marina. “These are the two I was telling ya about, yo. If ya wanna be the best in the business, these two are gonna be your biggest rivals.”

“Oooh, you're trying to get into music?” Callie asked, still bouncing a bit even as she let go of the Octoling's hand. “What kind? Singing? Or instrumental?” 

“Um... I like both,” Marina told her quietly, looking self-conscious. “I-I really love music, but I don't have much time for it back home, s-so I'm hoping to spend my time here focusing on that...”

“I see,” Callie grinned. She glanced at Pearl then. “Maybe you can talk her into being in a band with you, little Pearlie? You still need another singer after that blue chick walked out on you, right?”

Pearl crossed her arms, giving Callie a sharp glare even as a blush crept onto her face. “Don't call me little!” she snapped. Callie just giggled, clearly enjoying teasing the other Inkling. 

Marina looked between the three of them curiously, before speaking again. “So, um... you are... Pearl, and Callie...” she pointed to each of them in turn, before her green gaze fell on Marie. The silver-haired Inkling hadn't said a word to her yet. “And... you?”

When Marie remained silent, Callie rolled her eyes and lightly nudged her with her foot. “Hey, stop being shy and grumpy for five minutes and introduce yourself!” she said, looking down at her cousin. 

Marie glanced up at Callie. Though the black-haired Inkling's words carried the same playful and light tone as before, her golden gaze sharpened for a fraction of a second when their eyes met. A silent conversation was held in the span a heartbeat, before Marie sighed quietly and relented. “My name is Marie.” she told the Octoling curtly.

\--

After introductions were finished, the Squid Sisters' manager had called the two of them in to record a bit for the evening news, and Pearl had taken Marina away to continue her tour of the building, so the two of them hadn't gotten a chance to speak about this new situation they now found themselves in. 

Not that they really could have, anyway. Talking about such matters in a public space where anyone could overhear wasn't a good idea at the best of times, never-mind when an enemy soldier was close by and likely listening in on everything that everyone was saying. 

The day dragged on, but eventually ended. The two cousins had returned to their apartment in silence, though the silence wouldn't last long. Now that they were safe in the confines of their home, Marie wanted answers. 

As soon as they stepped in the door, however, Callie pranced off towards the kitchen and began preparing dinner. The silver-haired Inkling watched silently as her cousin grabbed out several herbs and veggies, placing them on the counter along with a cutting board and a knife. 

“What were you doing earlier?” Marie asked evenly after a moment, sitting down at the kitchen island opposite the younger squid. She figured that they might as well get this talk over-with before anything else happened that evening.

“Hm?” Callie asked innocently, beginning to chop up a carrot. “I did lots of things earlier.”

“You know what I mean.” Marie stated flatly, giving the black-haired Inkling an unimpressed look.

Callie stopped moving then, absently staring down at the carrot for a moment before speaking. “I was being nice, that's all. You could learn to do that more often.”

“I'm plenty nice, thank you very much!” Marie grumbled, suddenly having flashbacks to the Christmas Splatfest. Callie's similar statement and following comments from back then still stung a bit, even now. “She's one of those weirdly coloured Octolings that are ranked above the elite soldiers.”

“Yeah, no duh,” Callie drawled, getting back to gathering things from around the kitchen. “The bright teal's kinda hard to miss.”

“She's probably been sent here to spy, or to find out where Octavio's being held.” Marie continued on, watching her cousin evenly. Why was Callie being so dismissive about this?

“Mmhmm, that'd be my guess too.” Callie nodded, quickly cutting up the rest of the veggies and herbs while humming a bit to herself.

“She may even try to uncover the identities of Agents 1 and 2, if she hasn't already figured it out. She's gotta be angry about that machine they stole from her still...”

“Yep, that'd also make sense. Might as well make the most of her time in the city, right?”

“...And you don't see a problem with this.” It wasn't a question; more just a flat statement.

“Marie, do you really think she's going to do anything while she's in public?” Callie asked her, pausing again to meet her cousin's confused and annoyed gaze. “She's gotta play the game the same way that Agents do. If she tries to do anything bad while she's in the city, she'll risk blowing her cover. She needs to make everyone think she's just an intern at the studio and nothing more. We do have the upper hand here, since we know the truth about her and she may not know the truth about us yet.” 

“She almost killed you.” Marie muttered.

“And then you almost killed her,” Callie countered calmly. “I'd say we're even in that regard. Honestly Marie, there's no need to be rash, really.”

“Pot, meet kettle,” Marie sighed, leaning on her elbow on the counter. “We should still let the Cap'n know at least, and figure out what to do about this.”

“Yes to the first, no to the second,” Callie told her evenly, grinning a bit. “I already know exactly what we're going to do about this.”

“Is that right?” Marie drawled, looking extremely unimpressed still. “And what, pray tell, would that be?”

“Oh, come ooooon! Do you seriously not see what kind of amazing opportunity this is?!” Callie exclaimed then, throwing her hands in the air dramatically. Bits of food scattered across the counter from the motion, though neither squid noticed or cared at that particular moment.

“Explain.” Marie told her flatly.

Callie sighed a bit, but picked up the scattered pieces and carried on preparing dinner as she spoke. “Marie, why do the Octarians hate us so much?”

“Eh?” Marie asked, bewildered. “You already know the answer to that.”

“Just follow me for a sec. I promise there's a point here.” the black-haired Inkling said calmly, tossing some of the veggies into a pan with oil as she spoke.

“Fine,” Marie sighed, wondering what kind of weird logic trail she was about to be led on. “The Octarians are bitter because they lost the war a hundred years ago, which forced them all to live underground while we took control of the surface. They want revenge for that.”

“Right,” Callie nodded. “And now tell me this; how many Octarians and Octolings have you had to fight against in open combat since we became Agents?”

“Uh.... I dunno, probably several hundred by this point? Maybe even over a thousand?” Marie said, arching an eyebrow. “We've been doing this for like ten years, Cal. It's not like we really stop to count them...”

“Mmhm,” Callie nodded again. She paused in her work again, and stared directly into Marie's eyes, making sure she had the silver-haired Inkling's full attention before continuing. “And now tell me this; of those several hundred or thousand, how many of them have been old enough to have participated in the war a hundred years ago?”

Marie blinked slowly. “Uh...” She'd never thought about that before. It was impossible to tell exactly how old the average Octarian soldier was, but many of them looked quite young in the face. They definitely didn't look nearly as wrinkly and disheveled as Octavio did whenever he assumed his bipedal form, in any case. “I... don't know.”

“Not enough to be memorable, then?” Callie asked, smirking at the blank, deer-in-the-headlights look that was currently on Marie's face. Oh if only her phone was nearby... “So I'll ask again. Why do the Octarians hate us so much? Most of them have never known anything about the surface. A world underground has been their entire existence. How could they be bitter over losing something they know barely anything about?”

Marie remained silent, unsure of how to respond. 

Callie abandoned her cooking for a moment and walked over to the nearby window, her gaze growing somewhat distant. The sun was just starting to set, bathing the city beyond the glass in golden hues. She continued speaking before Marie had the chance to formulate a reply. “It's because their hate isn't really theirs. They inherited it from their parents, who inherited it from their parents. It's all they know. A lot of them are kids, Marie. Kids like us. Only difference is we have the freedom to realise the vicious cycle that they're trapped in. Though... if you really think about it, we're kinda the same as them anyway.”

“How do you figure that?” Marie asked, arching an eyebrow. She couldn't help but sound baffled. Where was all of this introspection coming from? It certainly wasn't like Callie to talk like this normally. How long had she been thinking about these things...?

Callie gave a slight shrug, still gazing out the window. “Because it's true. How old were we when Gramps first started training us to use weapons, Marie? When we were first ordered to fight a real, living Octarian? When we first... killed an Octoling...” she paused, closing her eyes for a moment, before shaking her head slightly and putting on her typical smile once more. “Did we really know what we were doing way back then? Did we ever question it? No, of course not. Why would we? All we had to know was that they were 'the bad guys' and we were 'the good guys'. Isn't it the same thing?”

“Jesus, you've really thought this through, haven't you?” Marie murmured, stunned. It was rare to hear such deep, in-depth thoughts coming from the black-haired Inkling. Marie sighed then. “I get what you're saying though... so, what exactly do you want to do about Marina? You still haven't told me...”

Callie turned around and walked back over to the counter, grinning widely, looking much more like herself suddenly as she added some beef to the pan and mixed everything together. “Well, I wanna show her that all that stuff she's learned growing up isn't true! We need to show her first-hand that Inklings aren't the bad guys she believes us to be. Like you said, she's one of those weirdly coloured high-ranking soldiers, which means this is someone with real power and influence! When are we ever gonna get a chance like this again?!”

“I still say we need to let the Cap'n know about what's going on, and get his input at the very least,” Marie said, running a hand through her hair with a sigh. “Lily's too, probably.”

“Oh yeah, we'll do that,” Callie nodded. “But let's ask them to let us handle it. Or ask them to let me handle it, if you're really not on board. I just... I really think we have the chance to do some serious good here. If we can make friends with her, show her the best parts of our society, make sure she has fun with everyone here... maybe we can change her mind about us? Or at least make her start to question her beliefs?”

“And what if we do all of these things you want, and then meet her on the battlefield again?” Marie asked, crossing her arms.

Callie shrugged, her light smile never leaving her face. “Then we'll deal with it. If we meet on the battlefield as Agents and soldiers, then we're enemies. But here in the city we don't have to be. Besides, isn't this our responsibility, as Agents? Even with all the fighting going on still, I know that Grandpa still wants to find a way to make peace with them, and this could totally be the way to do it!”

“What I wouldn't give to be as endlessly optimistic as you...” Marie sighed, relenting. “Fine... we'll see what the Cap'n thinks about your idea. I just hope that Marina doesn't figure out who we are while we're hanging out with her.”

Callie shrugged again, still smiling. “If she's gonna figure it out, then she's gonna do it regardless of our actions; especially if she's gonna be hanging around with Pearl a lot. It's not like we won't see them on a daily basis anyway.”

“Fair enough, I guess.” Marie acknowledged. 

Even though she claimed not to be fond of the Squid Sisters, Pearl 'just happened to' visit with the two of them quite frequently, and would likely bring Marina along with her while doing so for as long as the Octoling was acting as an intern at the studio. 

The two Agents really wouldn't be able to avoid her... but would simply acting nice and having fun with her really be enough to change anything? The after-effects of the war between the species had persisted for a hundred years, and Marie was doubtful that such long-lasting beliefs could be so easily swayed. 

Still, though, it was hard not to want to at least try. Especially when Callie was so convinced that this plan of hers would work; however simple it was. Only time would tell...


End file.
